3587: Vlad Kramnik v Milos Roganovic, Russia v Serbia. Russia’s result was below par, but it could have been worse. What plausible move must Black avoid here (but he didn’t)?

China scored a double triumph at the 185-nation chess Olympiad in Batumi, beating the United States and Russia on tie-breaks after a tense final round on Friday. Leading scores after 11 rounds were China, USA and Russia 18/22 match points, Poland and England 17. China also won the women’s Olympiad ahead of Ukraine and Georgia.

Fifth (post tie-break) was England’s highest Olympiad placing for 22 years, since fourth at Yerevan in 1996. The team, well captained by John Nunn, rode their luck at times and were blessed by favourable pairings but were also resilient, technically prepared in depth and professional in their match strategy. David Howell’s 7.5/10 on third board was the outstanding individual performance as the 27-year-old from Seaford advanced to 2699 on the live ratings. His only defeat was by the former world champion Vlad Kramnik.

Kremlin lieutenant elected head of world chess governing body

China’s triumph was their second Olympiad gold, following Tromso in 2014, and was achieved despite a third board failure where 19-year-old Wei Yi scored only 50%. Ding Liren, the top board and world No 4, played the entire Olympiad on crutches as he has still not fully recovered from breaking his hip in a cycle accident during the Stavanger tournament at the end of May. Despite this handicap he totalled 5.5/8 and is now on an unbeaten run of 88 consecutive games.

China’s other powerhouses were second board Yu Yangyi, who scored 7/11, and fourth board Bu Xiangzhi with 7.5/10. In the final gold medal round against the Americans, China played it cannily, keeping all four positions level and confident in their superior tie-break.

Led by the world title challenger Fabiano Caruana, with three top-10 grandmasters, and the same team that won gold in 2016, the Americans were clear favourites. They had problems, though, due to the poor form of their third board Hikaru Nakamura, who scored only 50%. The US led with three rounds to go, but were set back by a ninth-round loss to Poland where Nakamura chose the risky Scandinavian Defence 1 e4 d5 and was beaten.

The unlucky team were Poland, who met the strongest opposition, were clear leaders with two rounds to go, and had their best Olympiad performance since 1939 when they and Germany fought for gold in Buenos Aires just as the second world war began. Poland’s 20-year-old top board, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, impressed against a succession of elite opponents.

Russia, the No 2 seeds, finished strongly following their poor start. Moscow’s team selection was controversial. Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, commented that “They’re not doing themselves any favours by excluding two of their strongest players, eight-time national champion Peter Svidler and world title candidate Alexander Grischuk, a luxury that most teams cannot afford.” One of the replacements, Dmitry Jakovenko, was benched for the final five rounds after suffering two defeats.

The women’s Olympiad was decided in a nervy final round from which China took gold on tie-break with 18/22 ahead of Ukraine 18 and Georgia 17. The unlucky team was the United States, which was in a medal position until near the finish, highlighted by a standout 8/11 from 16-year-old Jennifer Yu.

Dvorkovich wins Fide election

Nigel Short has been appointed as a vice-president of the global chess body Fide, following Wednesday’s presidential election where Arkady Dvorkovich defeated the previous head Georgios Makropoulos by 103 votes to 78. During Short’s election speech he withdrew as a candidate and endorsed Dvorkovich, a move foreshadowed by their meeting in London last month.

The Russian, 46, is a former deputy prime minister, was the chief organiser of this summer’s Fifa World Cup, and in 2014 organised the Carlsen v Vishy Anand chess world title match in Sochi. Fide has suffered badly from corruption allegations and from US Treasury sanctions of its previous president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Its bank account has been closed since April, and there are complaints about its contract with Agon, the organiser of next month’s Carlsen v Caruana world title match in London.

Dvorkovich promised a larger budget, more outside sponsors, and a transparent and efficient administration. His critics will be ready to pounce, but many will hope that he can significantly improve Fide’s current low standing.

Caruana, top board for the US, made the most of his Whites, as he will need to do in next month’s world title series.